


The Return of the Entwives

by Sid Kemp (SidKemp)



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Ents, Entwives, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 16:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18578191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidKemp/pseuds/Sid%20Kemp
Summary: At very long last, the Ents and Entwives are reunited. And the road goes ever on and on ...Dear reader, if you do not know what an Ent or an Entwife is, please jump down to the notes before you begin. Otherwise, the notes are best left until the end.





	The Return of the Entwives

### Fangorn and Quickbeam

In England there is a wood. It is not an ancient wood in the old sense, for those were cut down uncounted ages ago. But it is a grove on lands protected by Oxford where oaks were planted six centuries ago to one day provide a new roof for the new-fangled dining hall at New College, which used wooden beams, instead of the older stone construction. The trees have been guarded by the Forester of Oxford for the day when the College Council would discover that the old beams had become beetly and come calling. That day had not yet come, and Quickbeam's friend, Treebeard or Fangorn as some called him, dwelt, standing invisible in the wood, still as Huorn. He spent his time feeling breezes, the slow movement of sap, and worms and bugs around his roots.

Quickbeam himself was no longer young. But his heart and his roots could not stand still for long. In the day, he stood as a tree, but dark nights of the new moon, he slid silently on the moors, staying as far from buildings as anyone could these days. And he had learned to walk on earth, mud, or even snow without leaving a trace. He loved the passing clouds that obscured the stars.

Each year, in years beyond count, Quickbeam came to visit his old friend in the grove. It was comforting to stand among oaks so tall. It brought back memories of Treebeard's ancient home, in a land now long lost where once the rowan tree had made two small, silly friends and played with them for a few days while older Ents did the serious work of deciding to go to war. That was Quickbeam's first war, and the last war of the Ents. Since then, time was a journey of slow dissolution punctuated by rapid destruction when Men grew too numerous or went to war. Treebeard and Quickbeam had spoken of such things less than once every hundred years for time past count. Rumours of the world outside no longer troubled Fangorn.

"My friend," said Quickbeam, "It is I." This was a passage of some hours, as he said Treebeard's name and his own, and not in their shortest form. He stood and waited until near dawn before Treebeard stirred his fingers and replied, "My friend! I have been waiting for you since you last left." Then the sky lightened and they stood silent and unmoving through the daylight hours.

Evening arrives, then full dark. "How have you been, my friend? What have you been doing?"

"So hasty, as always!" Treebeard rumbles, laughing deeply. "In addition to feeling the changes as fast summer sap turns to the slow gel of winter, I have been reciting Fimbrethil's name. It brings a comfortable sadness. I had just finished when I heard your call. I am sad that I can no longer recite it aloud, as of old. We must be silent in this age where Men would go mad to hear a tree talking. I am afraid I will become a huorn."

"It is hard to keep a light heart in this dark world. Almost all Men now deserve the fate of Saruman's orcs."

"That is not our place."

"I know, and do not need to be reminded." Quickbeam caught himself and slowed. "But my friend, I also know that it is long past the time for us to leave this world. All the others are gone, or we cannot find them in long centuries. There are no woods left in the world."

"I cannot disagree," said Treebeard, "nor can I leave."

Quickbeam slowed his speedy mind and spoke in a tone of respect to his elder. "Please teach me, elder. If you see it is time to go, why must you stay?"

The woods grew still before Fangorn's next words. "Whatever the mind may know, the heart cannot deny its loves. As much as I love the woods that are gone, so I still love Fimbrethil, and cannot go without her."

"And if she is no more, my friend?"

"Then I await my doom, long foreseen. But my heart says nay, and all my limbs are light and I hear Fimbrethil's voice saying, 'soon, soon.' Or so it seems, and Ents are not prone to insane visions, as Men are." They stood a while in silence. Dawn came, and day, and night again. "So tell me news of the insanities of men."

"More than half a century has passed since we crossed the waters of the Sleeve to come to this island. Indeed, the second war was far worse than the first. And it has only gotten worse since then. Men have made weapons that fly through the sky faster than ever flew the great Eagles. And they say that a destroying force from just one of them can ruin a city ten times the size of Osgiliath at its height with a fire hotter than the sun. Worse, some years ago, men put a star in the heavens of their own. Now there are many such, and some few men, it has said, have walked upon the moon."

"Did they meet Tilion? Now _that_ would be a friendly face, for all his hankering after Arien. That turned out well, after all. Had things worked out as the Valar planned, there would be no moonless nights we could wander in these man-infested years."

"All they found was a dead world, not unlike the plains of Gorgoroth, frozen in the dark and hot beyond boiling but utterly dry in sunlit times. If Maia dwell there, Men cannot see them."

"Which would be a matter of little surprise," grumbled Fangorn. "Is any of this of matter to us?"

"Yes, I am afraid. Man is now mapping every corner of the Earth. These artificial stars look down upon us, see everything, and tell their masters. If a tree moves, it will be noted. And the world now has ten times the people it has 200 years ago. I doubt we can remain hidden for even a few more years."

The sun rose and the two friends returned to stillness. Each was glad of his friend's presence. The sun set.

"My friend, I have told you why I stay," began Treebeard. "Why do you?"

"For the same reason that you do."

"But you never had an Entwife, to have lost her."

"True, but that is not the only kind of love, my friend. My heart can no more leave this world without you than you can leave without her."

"Then we await Fimbrethil."

### Fimbrethil Returns

"I am come," said a voice not unlike their own, yet without the earth-deep undertones and with overtones like the flutter of a flight of birds. Her eyes were like their own, pools as deep and timeless as the heavens, overshot with a glitter of green stars. The stalks of her hair were no longer the gold of youth, but bright silver-grey, yet strong and tall as ever.  _Like fresh wheat,_ thought Quickbeam,  _as he told me long ago._ She had sixteen fingers on each hand and the same number of toes, and her bark was like the waters of the Greyflood long ago in winter.

"You stand straight!" boomed Fangorn.

"Uncounted years have passed since I stooped to mind a garden," laughed Fimbrethil like a blushing girl, "I have become a wanderer."

"And I stand still as a rock in this grove," her husband replied.

"Then all is reconciled." 

"Trees become Entish, and Ents become treeish. Separated by untold leagues, you and I become each other."

 _Long ago,_ thought Quickbeam,  _Mithrandir said of us that we Ents are slow, yet once in many ages, we run like a flood._

"Soon we are to run in full flood," said Fimbrethil, knowing she read the rowan's thoughts, "and it would take an age to tell you of my journey. I will tell you what I can, as time allows."

"We settled the open lands across the Anduin, and they blossomed. The scent of spring there has no equal in all the world or all the years. You visited me there once. But Sauron returned and wrought destruction, ruining the land so no leaf could grow, no flower bloom. We fled east and east and east. We crossed mountains higher than any you and I knew, even in our youth."

"Higher than the mountains of the Great Eagles?" asked Quickbeam in amazement.

"Yes, indeed," laughed Fimbrethil, echoing spring rain. "Oh, two of my sisters are come." Two thin trees slid forward and remained silent. Fimbrethil continued her tale.

"We found fertile lands beyond, but the stench of war came again, and eastward we went. We crossed another mountain range onto a vast plain that bore only grass, ten times and more larger than Rohan, both east to west and north to south. In the south, there was great heat and the fetid smell of many men traveling in wandering caravans. A few times we tried to speak to them. One told me a story of how a great man long ago in his homeland, one Aristeus, had taught men to milk cattle and care for bees. I laughed and said, 'Perhaps he taught you of milk and cheese, but it was I who taught you beekeeping, and the care of orchards.' To the north, the earth was frozen year-round and there was no scent at all. So east again, crossing thousands of miles of desolation.

"A moment came when the whole world trembled. In a dream, I heard our mother Yavannah say to me, 'The world has become round. Ever eastward, then around a great island, then across a vast sea, and a land men will tell you is shaped like a tree with a great canyon for its trunk, endless miles more, and another sea, your beloved waits for you. Oh, and more of my sisters come." Four more Entwives joined them.

"At last we found lands of great trees, reminding me of you, and Fangorn Forest. We dwelt there. In the early millennia, there were few men, and primitive. But in the last 4,000 years or so, the men grew great cities and endless farms and cut down the forest to make room for themselves.

"What did you do, my honey-scented one?" Fangorn asked, fully enchanted.

"They had a quaint custom," giggled Fimbrethil. "Where they buried their great kings, they left the forests utterly untouched. There we hid, unknown, fruiting for centuries." Fimbrethil's giggle had a chorus of echoes, and Quickbeam looked up to see that where there had been six sisters, now there were twelve.

"These people, who called themselves Chinese, had strange customs, and some of them were friendly to us. Some were forest dwellers who wrote poetry. The avoided the red dust of their cities, yet even so wrote poems calling men to harmony. Their rituals were full of incense. One of them spoke of the Way and told us we lived the Way just as we were." A chorus of giggles arose. One more had joined the sisters, and as Quickbeam gazed upon her, his heart changed. These many ages, never had he understood Treebeard's yearning for Fimbrethil. But now he saw one Entwife he knew he would yearn for beyond this world. She stood shorter than the others, as if younger, grew broad and had few fingers, but six or seven, spreading long and wide. She felt his gaze and looked up. Her eyes locked with his, and all grew silent, knowing the meaning of this moment. The sun rose, and shone, and set again.

"Twenty more centuries passed, and one of these crazy men was rumored to be planning a great journey beyond the end of the world, past the great island nation at the eastern end of their known world. I dreamed I saw Yavannah standing still and pointing east. There was a sense of urgency, and so we joined him."

"A journey by ship!" There is no way to describe it, or its horrific stench. We joined our Chinese friends across a great ocean as wide as the lands we had walked in many ages, and came to the great land that Yavannah had said we must cross. At the great canyon, our Chinese friends stopped, but we crossed down and over the water and up and once again, across a great plain. Men with black hair and red skin lived all across this land, and were friendly. A marvelous grain grew there, with large grains the color of golden sun and the deep blue of evening sky. I taught the peoples how to grind it and mix it with beans and squash to grow food that would make them strong. We taught gardening and farming as we went. Ever we journeyed on. This land was a varied land, but whether grass or forest, was wonderfully fertile, and, until a few centuries ago, quite unstained.

"Three centuries ago, men and then women of Middle-earth came to the East of that land. They built great cities full of awful smoke and made war, as Men always have, but worse, as only Men of Middle-earth can do. We were deeply saddened, for it seemed that soon the world would be covered in a second darkness. But we also felt hope, for all that Yavannah had promised had come true, and there was only one more ocean to cross, and my heart told me you were waiting." She fell silent. The sun rose and made its weary way across the sky.

"Two centuries ago, wooden ships crossed frequently, but were often lost. Then came sturdy metal ships with great engines and I thought to dare the ocean. But Yavannah sent dreams of war and bid me wait. So we waited through two great wars, until the day came, just this last summer. Huge ships full of stuffs and man-food cross the ocean with few men on board, and they are nearly unsinkable. At night, we slid aboard. We bore their strange metallic song.

"And here we are." 

### The Road Goes Ever On and On

 "Come, join the circle," said Fimbrethil, and there were two Ents and fourteen Entwives forming a glade. "You two, in the center. We all saw what happened. Now let us hallow it." So Quickbeam stepped forward and gazed into the eyes of his beloved. "What is your name?" he stammered, and in that moment, all the Ents heard an Ent stammer for the first time. 

"Narurandiri," she replied, "Red Wanderer," for in the fall my leaves are as red as your berries. And yours?"

"Bregalad." With that, their eyes locked and all fell silent. There was nothing but the scent of snow. The sun rose and they were wed. All through the day, bees and wisps of wind danced in delight through their intermingled branches, and through the twined branches of Fangorn and Fimbrethil, as well. All the Ents were caught in the ecstasy of being alive. The sun set soon, for it was the shortest day of the year.

"And now it is time for us all to go," said Fimbrethil.

Quickbeam said, "And the old Ents called  _me_ hasty." He laughed, and they all laughed with him. Bregalad held Narurandiri's hand in his left and Fangorn's in his right as the circle reformed.

Fimbrethil led their prayer. Quickly, though, they were of one mind and their voices rose in harmony. If any human folks were wandering the forest that day, who knows what they thought of that song. But I think that their hearts would have been moved. 

 

> Eru, One Creator, Father of All  
>  Mother Yavannah calls us home  
>  The lost who are reunited
> 
> When Numenor betrayed you,  
>  You reshaped the world, saving  
>  The gods and children of the Undying Lands
> 
> Take us now from this round world  
>  Leave that to Men, take us now  
>  Home safe in heaven

They were lifted into heaven as I saw one night in a dream narrated by Quickbeam, whom I have always loved. As the dream ends, he realized that he and Narundariri will never be parted from one another, not even for a day. I sense others joining their journey. It is all hazy, but perhaps Tom and Goldberry with a few Entish refugees from Fangorn and an old Willow whose blackened heart has softened since those days, and great Eagles flying from high mountains, and Yavannah waiting among the trees, calling her children home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Introductory notes
> 
> I am, perhaps, the ultimate believer in happy endings, even though I am also a sad witness to the unimaginable depths of suffering in this human world. This story was guided by Tolkien's letters 144 and 338. It draws from all mentions of the Entwives in The Lord of the Rings, from the creation myths of the Ents in the Silmarillion, and from Elrond's response to Treebeard's hope of finding the Entwives.
> 
> For those who do not know what an Ent or an Entwife is, please either read the chapter "Treebeard" from the two towers, or see these two online resources: https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Ents and https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Entwives.
> 
>  
> 
> General notes
> 
> As best I can tell, I have varied from the Canon on only one small point. I use a view that Tolkien later abandoned in suggesting that, prior to the fall of Numenor at the end of the Second Age, the Earth was flat, and Eru Illuvatar made it round when he withdrew Valinor and Elvenhome from the world that holds Middle-earth. I have always loved that image and could not not use it. My story works in Tolkien's later view that our planet, including Middle-earth, was always round. (See letter 156 for this view, which Tolkien held.)
> 
> Deepest thanks for inspiring this story to my partner in writing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_L_Beck/pseuds/K_L_Beck. We conceived of writing about the Entwives and developed some of these ideas together.
> 
>  
> 
> Notes on the text  
> (Unless otherwise specified, citations are from The Two Towers.
> 
> 1\. Wood beams for New College, Oxford is a story I heard as true. It is a beautiful tale of the deep meaning of sustainability. I did change the dates to make it fit, and it may be apocryphal anyway. But why can't a fantasy story cite an urban legend? https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/oak-beams-new-college-oxford
> 
> 2\. "Rumours of the world outside no longer troubled Fangorn." Treebeard has changed. In "The White Rider," Gandalf says, "He often comes here, especially when his mind is uneasy, and rumours of the world outside trouble him."
> 
> 3\. "Did they meet Tilion?" This references the legend of the Maia who carries the moon through the heavens. Had he not been wayward, the moon would shine all night every night, opposite the sun. See https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Tilion.
> 
> 4\. "that is not the only kind of love, my friend." Read The Four Loves, by C. S. Lewis.
> 
> 5\. "Trees become Entish, and Ents become treeish. Separated by untold leagues, you and I become each other." Many elements from this section are drawn from Treebeard's tale of himself and of Fimbrethil in the chapter "Treebeard." See also Letter #144 in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, in which he speculates on the reconciliation of the Ents and the Entwives, and what makes it difficult, and what might make it work. This passage inspired my story.
> 
> 6\. Aristeus is a Greek God, a benefactor of mankind especially in terms of animal husbandry, cheesemaking, and beekeeping. But in letter #144, Tolkien attributes these gifts to Men as coming from the Entwives.
> 
> 7\. "The world has become round." The moment is the destruction of Numenor. See also the first item above in General Notes.
> 
> 8\. All through Fimbrethil's tale Entwives keep arriving. She brings thirteen companions, and one stumbles in last. Being entish, they do not bow. But can you find the parallel in The Hobbit?
> 
> 9\. The Entwives journey across Eurasia provides a gloss of all its geography, with a tip of the hat to Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne, and a capsule version of 4,000 years of Chinese history.
> 
> 10\. China does leave the forests around its Imperial burial sites untouched, and these are the only ancient forests that still remain in China, most of which was deforested around 1200CE.
> 
> 11\. The island nation they must go around is Japan. The description of the size of the Pacific, the shape of North America, and the Grand Canyon come from a bizarre text (true or untrue, it is bizarre) that claims that, in 499CE, the Chinese crossed the Pacific to California and reached the Grand Canyon. See http://www.grandcanyonhistory.org/Publications/TheOlPioneer/TOP_2013_4.pdf and http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34909?msg=welcome_stranger
> 
> 12\. The 500 years of contact and 300 years of invasion, genocide, and settlement of North America by the folks from the place once called Middle-earth bring tragedy and opportunity, as has happened in all ages of Middle-earth.


End file.
